


I Wont Say I'm In Love (Not Even For You Disney)

by IFallLikeLeavesAndSnow



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: But you know this makes total sense, I am shameless shipping trash, I keep thinking Nico's 16 for some reason so in this one he is, M/M, The Power Of Love, This is pure hot flaming garbage, and I am sorry, but also not sorry, not actually a songfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-07
Updated: 2016-02-07
Packaged: 2018-05-18 17:46:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5937259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IFallLikeLeavesAndSnow/pseuds/IFallLikeLeavesAndSnow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nico has never been very direct or open about his feelings. It didn't work with Percy, but it especially doesn't work with Will. (Un)Luckily for him, Aphrodite and the Muses have some free time. Solangelo. Not a song fic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Wont Say I'm In Love (Not Even For You Disney)

Being lectured by a Disney character isn't all that fun. Especially when they're doing it in song. Let me back up a bit because there's a bit of a story in need of telling in order for you to understand how I, Nico Di Angelo, King of Ghosts, wound up in a darkened Disney Land, wearing an oversized tinker bell t-shirt, being lectured by a fictional character.

Sidenote: If you ever tell anyone about this I will turn you into an undead ghoul for all eternity.

Also sidenote: I’ve been told that I should stop threatening people with horrifying punishments. In my defense I’ve gotten a lot mellower over the years. Now they’re just threats. Mostly.

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not exactly the most emotionally sensitive of guys, I mean my dad is the god of the dead, warm fuzzy feelings don't exactly come naturally. That doesn't mean that I'm totally oblivious though, 98% of the time I can tell when someone likes someone else. Unfortunately that other 2% of the time involves me, and in that case, I've got all the awareness of George the Skull (Nice guy George, for a blind skull without ears, but not the best conversationalist). It's not like I didn't know that something was up, but like I said feelings aren't my forte. Whether it involves someone else's or-

Or my own.

I thought everything was fine between me and Will. He was cool, and nice, and funny, and his eyes were- anyway, everything seemed to be going good. But I'm a demigod, and a child of Hade's, so of course everything had to go wrong at some point or another. It all started, and, come to think of it, ended, in one night. I’m efficient like that. Four or five averted apocalypses, a foot and a half in height, three years and I’m _still_ bad with talking to people.

I was sitting in the shadows at the edge of the fire, listening to the chatter of the other campers. Being around people can be . . . nice, but I still get a lot of odd looks. Maybe it’s the star factor. Percy isn’t the only person who can head a prophecy, and I've saved the day a few times by myself. Of course it may or may not have something to do with the ominous greek choir or damned souls that I summoned a few weeks ago. _I_ thought it was hilarious, plus I got them from the Fields of Punishment, so I _know_ that they were grateful for the change of scenery. There’s just no pleasing some people I guess. Will seemed to think it was funny though, so I suppose that’s all that really-

As I gazed into the fire, I thought I saw a face flicker in the flames, a young girl, giving me a soft smile. The fire flared, and as it did so, the shadows receded. In that moment, someone else sat down next to me.

I didn't need to look to know who it was; even after all this time, people were a little wary of sitting next to me. Again, it may have something to do with the conjuring of the dead, but I’m not entirely sure. Another glance into the fire revealed that the face was smirking mischievously before it disappeared. For someone who was supposed to guard hearth and home and be a goddess of domesticity, Hestia was awfully interfering. Not that she was really needed, Will always found me, no matter how deep the shadows. As I turned to look at him, I realized that he had three bows slung over his shoulder.

"So Nico, what’ve you been up to today?"

I'm almost certain that Will exudes some kind of temperature increasing field as part of his divine heritage, because that was the only explanation for the heat in my face and body. Well, the only one that I'd accept anyway.

"Oh, hey Will, it's been . . . okay, I taught some of the younger campers what the best way to defeat an undead enemy was."

Will nodded thoughtfully, grinning at me "Always useful."

The saddest part of that statement was how true it was, at least for demigods who didn't hold dominion over the dead.

"I spent today teaching first aid to some of the other children of Apollo, Davy seems to have a real knack for the healing hymns. After that I went to the archery range, picked these-" he nudged the bows "-up, and then went down to the lake to give some swimming lessons." Will yawned and stretched, his shirt riding up a bit, which I definitely didn't notice. "Oh man I'm tired," he said, yawning again.

"Maybe you should go to bed," I offered.

"Yeah I probably will, but first I need to return these to the archery shed." Standing, Will looked down at me "I don't suppose you'd like to help me?"

I hesitated, but I couldn't exactly think of a reason not too, Will clearly needed help, and it wasn't like I had anything else to do.

"Sure," I said.

"Great," Will said with a smile, and reached out to help me off the ground. If our hands touched a little longer than necessary, I couldn't say. The sounds of the fire and the campers faded into the background, and the pathway grew slightly narrower, forcing us closer to one another. The shed that housed the spare weapons was slightly out of the way, in a small clearing not that far into the woods. Moonlight spilled down into the clearing, banishing the shadows.

It was as Will was slinging the bows off of his shoulder and placing them into the shed that I realized that he hadn't needed my help at all. I couldn't really say anything, and not because I was watching his back as the muscles of his shoulders moved underneath his shirt. I just thought it'd be rude to interrupt him while he was busy putting things away.

In retrospect, maybe that would've been a better idea. After Will finished putting the bows away in their proper places, he turned around, and I realized just how close we were. There were three inches at the max between our faces. In the back of my mind, I couldn't help but think that Thalia must be around, because the air seemed to be charged and everything was tingly. In the front of my mind though, there were only a few thoughts, namely _my gods we're close, why is my mouth so dry and does my breath smell?_

Being the child of Hades, I'd know if I was about to die, but I couldn't help but feel as if my heart had stopped in that moment. Did I say three inches away? I meant two, or maybe one, or no, okay, Will was definitely getting closer to me, and- and-

And then he was kissing me.

Those vague skeletal butterflies had apparently been breeding because-

Woah, okay, wrong line of thought Nico.

And then the moment was over, and Will was looking at me.

"Nico, I-" I didn't hear the rest, because shadows swamped the clearing, and then I was falling into darkness . . .

And then into a pool. In my haste to escape, I hadn't really thought about where to go. Apparently my subconscious decided that I needed someplace safe and secure, and the best place for that was an empty water park. I felt liquid soak into my shirt, and I quickly got up. My back throbbed in pain at the movement and I groaned. After taking a brief look around, I walked over to a wall, and stepped into the shadows.

I was then promptly kicked out. The ground I landed on was different, so I had definitely gone somewhere else, but I wasn't that far from where I'd started. My shirt was soaked but luckily I seemed to be in a gift shop of some sort. As I looked through the various shirts though, I realized where I was.

It's a little difficult to think you might be anywhere other than Disney land when you can see rows and rows and rows of Tinkerbell merchandise. As Fortuna would have it, the only shirt in sight that would fit me was one with Disney's favorite fairy emblazoned on it. After changing into the Tinkerbell shirt, and storing my wet one in my shadow, I stepped into another one. There was still resistance, enough that I knew that I wouldn't be leaving the park that way, but it appeared that I'd be able to go wherever I wanted, so long as I didn't try to leave its boundaries.

My sword rested at my side, but I didn't draw it just yet. I didn't feel any hostility but I drew the shadows closer to me anyway. As I wandered through the park, I found myself confronted at every turn with drawings of Disney characters. As I turned a corner, I came across something that I was reasonably sure didn't exist inside the park. A gigantic mural of the Hercules movie, complete with literally every character in the movie. Standing front and center, in front of even Hercules himself, were the muses and Aphrodite. As I watched them, the images of the Muses and Aphrodite began to move, and after a moment, they stepped off of the wall, going from 2-D to 3-D in the space of a moment.

"Hello Nico di Angelo" Aphrodite said with a smile. Even I could tell that she was beautiful, but that knowledge was tempered by the fact that I both wasn't into that, and that she was a terrible person. Goddess. Whatever.

Still, it doesn't do to unduly offend divinity "Hello Lady Aphrodite, and of course, hello to you as well, Muses." I watched a lot of rom coms after Bianca died, they were one of her guilty pleasures, not that she or I will ever admit it; and if there is one thing Aphrodite is (or at least acts like) most of the time, it's a rom com chick.

"Oh Nico you are charmer," Aphrodite said with a giggle. The Muses smiled slightly at me.

"But," the Goddess of Love said "don't think that that'll keep you from having a talking to."

I wondered just how many people still described what could no doubt be a lecture as "a talking to". "Umm okay, but what for?" I knew exactly what she was talking about, she was the Goddess of Love, but if there's one thing that I had lots of practice at, it was being the Demigod of Denial. I was already denying things to myself, like my beating heart, the intense feeling in my chest that I refused to admit felt good, the- well, other things.

Aphrodite probably couldn't read minds, but if she could, my current situation would be exactly the kind of thing that allowed her to. "I know you're in denial Nico, but love cannot and will not be denied, it would sooner destroy you."

"Yeah that's great," I said, searching for something to deflect with. I found it when my eyes shifted over to the Muses. "Oh uh, hey, aren't there supposed to be like, nine of you?"

The tallest of the Muses groaned "Not this again."

I knew on opening when I saw one "What?"

"After that movie came out, Erato, Euterpe, and Polyhymnia threw a tantrum, they've slowly stopped providing inspiration for the world in their respective spheres. Why do you think that music has gone down the toilet?"

"Well Polyhymnia has more to do with pantomime, but she's still pretty ticked off," one of the shorter Muses said.

"Thank you Melpomene."

"You're welcome Calliope."

Neither of them sounded particularly thankful.

The shortest Muse waved at Nico in excitement "I'm Thalia."

"Well that wouldn't get confusing," Nico muttered. "By process of elimination that makes you two-" he said pointing at the last two "Clio and Terpsichore."

The taller of the two muses raised her hand "I'm Terpsichore."

"But wait, that's only eight, where's . . .” I struggled with the name for a moment. "Where's Urania?"

The Muses collectively rolled their eyes in perfect unison. "She broke off from the rest of us after the space race." Calliope said.

"She thought that she was too big for us." Clio followed.

"It was all 'me me me' with her." Melpomene continued.

"She thought that just because the mortals were becoming obsessed with the stars she could walk all over us." Terpsichore added.

"Total diva." Thalia finished.

"The last we heard, she was off frolicking in the stars with her latest boy toy Perseus." Calliope said.

The closeness to my first crushes name really weirded me out, but I tried not to show it.

"I love that story" Aphrodite sighed "They're quite literally star crossed lovers . . . well sort of anyway. Back to my point, which is this, you cannot run from love Nico di Angelo."

"I'm not running from anything," I protested, while thinking about the best way to turn and run from the Goddesses as fast as I could.

"Are you trying to lie to me when it comes to love, Nico di Angelo?" Aphrodite wasn't smiling anymore "My son is cold and cruel I admit, but he is always, always truthful, that is the way love is, so think twice before trying to tell me a lie about love."

Goddess or not, I did _not_ like being reminded of Cupid. "My dear lady Aphrodite, lady Muses, as much as I'd love to continue this conversation, I really do have places to go, so if you'll excuse me." I grabbed the shadows around me and pulled. I actually made progress, I could feel myself moving through shadowy paths. Before I got too far though, I felt something tug at me, like a wire connected directly to my heart. When I popped back into the park, the Goddesses were nowhere to be seen, but I could feel them around me.

A note was waiting for me, floating in midair, and written in the most intensely pink ink imaginable. It read as follows.

_Dear Nico_

_I'm afraid I can't let you leave just yet, your story just wouldn't end well if I did. I mean sure there'd be a lot of drama, but sometimes you just want a happy ending you know? Just so you know you won't be able to leave the park until you admit your feelings, and since the Bachelor just ended, I have nothing else to do with my time. Anyways go for a walk, I'm sure it'll help clear you mind, and all that._

_Lots of love Aphrodite_

_XOXOXO DFQ_

_P.S. Don't try and figure out what those last three mean, you're too young._

With a sigh I crumpled the note and threw it away. Grover would probably be ticked, but I didn't think he could smell littering on a person, and I really wasn't in the mood. I knew that I wouldn't be getting out of the park until I was allowed; for all her ditzyness, Aphrodite was a powerful Goddess. There were faint pink lines drawn on the ground telling me where to go.

With nothing else to occupy me, my thoughts turned, inevitably, towards Will and our kiss. It had been . . . nice. More than nice if I was being honest. It had been sharp, and sweet, and deep. I realized, now that I was thinking about it, that I knew what he'd had to eat last. Blueberries. Of _course_ he'd eaten blueberries last, after all blueberries are one of my favorite snacks, and my choices can never be easy. I wouldn't be surprised if somehow Aphrodite knew that and slipped him some.

And now I really wanted blueberries. More than that, I wanted blueberries with Will. Or maybe I just wanted another kiss. Absently, my hand trailed along the wall. It wouldn't work, it just wouldn't. The last time I'd liked anyone, he'd turned out to be painfully straight. Granted, Will had been the one to kiss me, so I was reasonably sure he wasn't exactly uninterested. Still, romance and me, we just didn't work out. Personally, I blame Cupid.

Out of nowhere, I heard singing. I’ve been told that I can’t actually include what I heard, due to violation of IP or something or other. I guess even gods aren’t immune to the consequences of copyright infringement.

The meaning of the lyrics went something like "I have such terrible judgment that I've actually won prizes for it" The singer was really close by, and they sounded decidedly familiar. Whoever it was, I didn't see the guy, and going by the voice, it was definitely a guy. The next line went something like "Men suck, like, really really badly."

"You are as transparent as the ghosts you control, and you care about this boy a lot." The Muses were joining in now, and I realized that I actually knew the song.

"You're trying to fool the goddess of love and the muses themselves, and it's just not gonna work." As a rough translation, that line will serve.

"There is literally zero chance I will admit it." Was the general gist of the next line. It was at that point that I realized who was singing.

Me.

I really _really_ hate the Muses sometimes.

"You have _literally_ swooned and we will never let you forget it." They truly had such a way with words.

For the record, I have never swooned in my life. Well, okay, I kind of swooned when Percy first saved me and Bianca, and I guess I sort of swooned over Will during the battle with the Romans, but that's beside the point.

"I'm am not some hacky cliché character from a 1940's musical, and it's not going to happen, I am _not_ in love." Because I wasn't, I definitely wasn't in love with Will Solace, I wasn't I wasn't I wasn't.

"Emotionally speaking I've got like zero experience in a relationship, but in my early stages of delusion about Percy I kind of felt awesome. But I've officially learned my lesson." Well I'd definitely learned my lesson, but I don't know how good it's supposed to feel when Will had taken my first kiss and-

Oh gods, that was my first real kiss.

"I have got to get a grip unless I want to go on another two year hate streak, so let's just put romance down like any other monster and walk away." At least that seems to make the most sense to me.

"Boy seriously stop trying to fool us, we see right through you. We are not airheaded suburbanites and you are not a salesman, because we aren't buying. We saw how you felt, so when are you going to own up to it?" At that point, Aphrodite had shown up, and those pangs in my heart got simultaneously worse and better. I suppose when Disney Goddesses sing about your feelings, it's a little futile to try to fight it. But giving up isn't really in my nature.

"I. Will. Never. Say it." I didn't really believe myself entirely anymore. It was around that point that I realized that I was singing of my own free will ostensibly. I mean I tried, and I couldn't _stop_ singing, but I wasn't actively fighting it anymore.

"Give it up, just admit it already." The Muses _and_ Aphrodite, I hate them _both_ so _so_ much.

"This little song and dance aren't going to work, I'm not going to say it."

Especially when they're right. But denial is my natural response to things, and I don't give it up until the last minute. Ever. I once nearly lost a limb because I was certain I could win in a game of chicken against a monster. Jokes on him, cause he’s dead so . . . I win?

"You're about to burst from repressing those feelings, just admit it."

It didn't help that they were so confident, or the fact that they were making me sing. Well mostly, but I was never going to admit that I'd done it of my own free will.

"You are  _way_ off base."

They say that the fatal flaw of children of Hades is that we hold grudges, even when it hurts us. I suppose that's true, because at that point I was in it just to spite the Goddesses.

"Alright you're stubborn, but that doesn't mean you aren't in love."

But I forgave Percy, and I didn't think that being mad at Aphrodite for being right and making me face my feelings in a much less brutal manner than her son would actually work.

"Get off my case, I won't say it."

There's only so much fight one person can have, and I think I officially ran out of it at that point.

"Boy don't be proud, its okay you're in love."

I think that's what really made it through to me though, because for the first time in my life, it was alright. Things were different now, people like me didn't get locked up anymore, and the guy I lo- really really liked seemed to like me back.

"Okay okay, I won't say it out loud but, maybe, I'm in love."

The Muses and Aphrodite appeared before me.

"Do you see now Nico di Angelo?"

Begrudgingly I nodded "I do."

"Good, then go to him, and tell him how you feel, give me more inspiration so that I can create yet another dating show- ahem. I'd say good luck, but I don't think that you'll need it.

Of course Aphrodite was responsible for at least some of the dating shows on TV. "Thank you my lady but one question."

"What is it Nico di Angelo?" "Why do you keep using my full name?"

Aphrodite laughed "Oh it's Italian Nico darling, one of the languages of love, Nico the Angel it's so _romantic_."

"Of course it is." I said, fighting with every bit of my will to not roll my eyes. Before anything else could be said, I pulled the shadows close. As the darkness guided me to my destination, I could hear the echo of the Muses final words.

“I can't believe he didn't thank us!”

“He could've at least rated our performance.”

“I should've gone off on my own like Urania, the rest of you clearly butchered the rest of the number.”

“That was at least a 7.5.”

“Oh my god shut up Thalia there are no decimal points in singing contests!”

When the shadows parted and I found myself back in Camp Halfblood, I irrationally looked around, expecting Will to still be waiting for me. It was admittedly pretty silly of me to think he would be. I did kind of disappear, even if I wasn’t actually gone for that long. I'd only been gone for about fifteen minutes, but time moved funnily when you were in the presence of a god.

The clearing was deserted, but if I'd passed my tracking class (well okay, it was a C+, still counts) then he'd gone through the woods. His trail was easy enough to follow, and when the woods ended, I found myself on the beach. If his footprints hadn't still been imprinted in the sand, the fact that he was sitting on the beach would've been a pretty good clue. Shadows wrapped around me, depositing me silently behind him.

"Hi Nico," Will said. His voice was dead, devoid of its familiar warmth, and it made me feel cold.

"Hi Will." Smooth di Angelo, real smooth.

"What do you want Nico? I think you made it pretty clear how you felt earlier."

"I- no look Will I-" Will cut me off.

"I should've known not to listen to them, Aphrodite and the Muses have always loved mucking about in people's lives, especially Melpomene. The Muse of tragedy is never happy when someone else is."

"Wait, the Muses and her royal hair dye visited you too?"

Will snorted, then schooled his features and turned, raising an eyebrow "What do you mean 'too'?"

"When I- when I shadow traveled, they dragged me to them, Aphrodite told me that she wouldn't let me go until I admitted my feelings."

His breath hitched "Your feelings?"

"Yeah, feelings about-” I stopped

"About what?" Will asked, but he was sporting a hopeful grin and his voice wasn't as dead as it had been.

I blushed, and hoped it wasn't that apparent under the moonlight. Judging by the fact that Wills smile only got wider, I was pretty sure it was.

"About you," I admitted awkwardly.

Moving with new confidence, Will scooted closer, invading my PCS or Personal Coffin of Space. For some reason I couldn't find it in myself to care. "And just what were these feelings?" That smirk told me he knew exactly what my feelings were.

"I-" I stopped

"Yeeeeeeees?" Will asked.

"I like-" I stopped again.

"You like what? Trees? Cupcakes? Skeletons? Do-" This time I cut him off.

With my mouth.

When we parted, I answered "Blueberries."

A look of confusion passed over Wills face "What?"

"It's nothing important right now, but I really, really like you." It felt amazing and terrifying to say out loud.

"Good," Will said, and kissed me again.

He still tasted like blueberries, which I guess I must have said out loud, because he looked at me with another smile. He must have inherited that from his dad, because it couldn't be anything less than divine.

"Blueberries, huh?"

I nodded dumbly, too flush to speak.

"Well you know Nico, we're all out of blueberries for the night, but I wouldn't want to deprive you of the flavor and the nutrients, as camp healer, I'm very concerned about your health."

"Well aren't you just generous beyond compare?"

"What can I say, it's a burden." He said with a shrug.

His smile was infectious, and my grin turned to a smile and then a laugh as the remaining tension broke down and we fell apart in laughter. When we were done, we found ourselves lying back on the sand, fingers intertwined.

"So, they visited you earlier huh?" I asked.

"Yeah," he replied "they got me while I was on the beach."

"Ah," I said "so did they make you sing?"

"What?" He looked over at me with another grin "No, but they did sing to me."

"What did they sing?"

He blushed before replying "Kiss the Girl, with some lyrics changed to suit the situation."

I couldn't help but laugh, but he didn't hold it against me, though he did gently jab me in the ribs.

"Well mister dignified, what did you sing?"

"I Won't Say I'm in love." I admitted. Will chuckled.

"I'd love to hear you sing sometime." He said after a while.

I blame the feeling of euphoria, because all I said was "fine, but no Disney."

"I make no promises."

We laid there for a while longer, just basking in each other's comfort. After a while though, I turned to him. "Hey Will."

"Yeah?"

"I really need some blueberries."

Wills smirk turned mischievous. Sitting up, he turned over, so that he was supporting himself on his arms as he loomed over me.

"I could never deny my patient what he needs." He said.

"What a good doctor you are," I said.

As he leaned down to kiss me, I smiled. Before our lips meet again though, he stopped and retreated a bit.

"Hey Nico?"

"Yeah?"

"Why are you wearing a Tinkerbell shirt?

 


End file.
